The H90 and H110 are completely identical to the NZXT Kraken X40 and X60. Same fans, same pump, same rad... looks like both companies just put their name on one of Asetek's designs and called it a day.Reply

Making these things bigger will help. In my opinion a bandage for a gun shot wound. Those radiators should be all copper to be a match for those premium air coolers. I'm very curious how the copper and heatpipe rad from Zalman will perform. It's a shame that even when the 120mm Zalman will be an absolute gem, only the very few will know. And the big (inefficient) aluminium radiators will sell easier. (Here we have a small one for $80 and for only $20 more you have a huge one). Corsair, Antec &co aren't taking anoraks seriously.Reply

Copper is very good at conducting heat.Aluminium is very good at dissipating heat.This is why virtually all modern coolers use copper heatpipes and aluminium fins, since going all copper offers very little benefit for a huge increase in cost & weight.Reply

"For a little extra on the cost of an air cooler we can get a quieter cooling solution ..."

Is there any proof of this theory, anywhere? In my experience, watercooling is always the noisier solution for CPUs, because the noisy part of the cooling process is pressing air through the cooler, and with the watercooling this happens that much closer to the edge of the case.

On top of that, what I don't understand about these coolers is, who exactly is the target audience? Personally, I havn't come across a singe PC where the CPU cooling solution was noisier than the GPU cooling in about 10 years. What kind of system do you build with one of these coolers?Reply

You can put them into mini-itx cases like the SG07/8. I have a H80 in mine. Air coolers are harder to fit in there, at least ones at the same performance level of one of these all in one coolers. Reply

i agree. I have a silver arrow with 2 140mm fans. Lets say for argument's sake that this high end heatsink produces the same temps as an H80 with its 2 fans in push pull at the same rpm (although i'm pretty sure the SA would be marginally better), and let's say the 2 fans also produce the same db (again, the TY-140 that's bundled with the SA are amongst the quietest). at the end of the day you'll always have to add pump noise to the H80, therefore it most certainly will be noiser, no matter how quiet the pump is.

There are a lot of reasons to go for these closed loops, such as aesthetics and space saving, but lower noise levels isn't really one of them.Reply

I think the question of whether this is quieter depends on if the pumps grind. Because Corsair likes to make closed loop systems with grinding pumps. It seems to be their specialty and they do it really, really well.Reply

"I’m a big fan of these closed loop all-in-one liquid coolers. For a little extra on the cost of an air cooler we can get a quieter cooling solution and something that can offer a great way to remove heat from the CPU without going for a full blown self-build water loop. "

Nothing could be further from the truth than what Ian has stated above...

In fact testing at numerous websites including AnandTech show that highend HSFs actually perform as good or better than closed loop coolers (CLCs), in every typical CPU cooling metric used by enthusiasts, those being:

1. Thermal performance2. Cost3. Fan Noise4. Reliability

Corsair has finally tweaked their H2O coolers so that they are slightly better than a highend HSF in thermal performance - under the right conditions, but has not resolved the cost, fan noise or reliability issues where water leaks can and do destroy PC hardware. While Corsair has been paying for the water leak damage, you can still lose data and be without your PC for weeks and for what? So you have a CLC that cost more, is thermally less efficient, has a louder fan and that can leak water?

Really? Is that what a technically informed person actually wants? I doubt it. I think that the majority of people who buy or promote inferior CLCs over safe, reliable, efficient and cost friendly HSFs, are technically challenegd, unscrupulous or both.

People are free to buy whatever makes them happy but promoting an inferior CPU cooling system to the clueless is unscrupulous IMO and that of other technically informed enthusiasts. The sheeple will flock to whatever is pimped, most without ever bothering to do their homework and learn the facts for themselves.Reply

"Nothing could be further from the truth than what Ian has stated above..."

When I state 'I am a fan of', how is that untrue? Do you know something I don't about my own mental state that I do not? Please send your findings to the James Randi Educational Foundation, they'll give you $1m if you can do it under laboratory conditions.

I enjoy using CLCs, and I personally prefer them over large HSFs, and own both. Aside from reducing the weight hanging off the motherboard, I find them better for heat transfer and noise in my environments in which I put them than the large HSFs. When I push the CPU load, the fans stay quiet and I'm happier with the temperatures. I have never had a leak with one, as neither have >99% of users. While I can't back up that figure, I fear if it was any larger then Corsair and NZXT wouldn't be forging ahead with new models.

I have confidence in them, and thus all my recent builds and my test beds use them. I'm sorry you feel differently.Reply

In this case he does have some fair points, but CLCs have no real risk of leaks. I'm sure there have been a few cases, but those would have been a result of a manufacturing defect or being damaged during shipping/installation. CLCs are *closed* and so, barring defects or damage, there's no reason they should leak.

CLCs are a fairly new product category, and the fact that the first gen models were on par with high-end air HSFs I think shows their potential. The cost and performance can only go up, while HSFs have pretty much topped out what they can do.Reply

>> "For a little extra on the cost of an air cooler we can get a quieter cooling solution and something that can offer a great way to remove heat from the CPU without going for a full blown self-build water loop."

Just because CLCs can be used in some more situations, may be more convenient, and so on, doesn't mean that you should be making such claims about performance.

CLCs of comparable prices to air coolers (and those of a "little extra cost") tend to have worse cooling and noise performance. Of course, some models with very fast fans might have slightly better cooling at the expense of much higher noise. Normalize for equal noise levels or equal temperatures, and the other parameter is worse than for the air coolers. If you run the CLCs quieter, then they will not cool as well, so describing that as a "great way to remove heat" gives people the wrong impression. The new CLCs should of course be better than older models (particularly with the 140mm unit sizes), but this issue was even reported before on AT in a previous article:http://www.anandtech.com/show/5054/corsair-hydro-s...

@kyuu, well, first-gen doesn't look on par to me. You see the same story in others' testing as well.

If the results are quite different these days, then maybe AnandTech should run an article about it. Reply

The biggest source of heat AND noise in my system has always been from the graphics card. IMO, more companies need to offer graphics cards with high end cooling (air or water) out of the box. Preferably not solutions that blow the air into the case.Reply

i've been very happy with the 80 and 100 series Corsair has madeand we've used here.... comments...it would be nice, not mandatory, but nice if they offered longerpresupplied hose options on these. some cases and mounts arejust a bit cramped or have the cooler positions a bit far fromthe CPU target which stretches things or limits choicesfor mounting orientation etc.i'd prefer top mount cable sockets to those on the sidesof the heatsink-fan blocks...makes it easier to cable setcorrectly and the first time.perhaps the manuals could have a 'bit' more local languagecontent? i've had a learning curve without text a time or two.we actively discourage huge bolt on air coolers now that thequality of these has been stable - especially for a systemthat is moved or relocated.Reply